A/N: Oh, yay! An update! And oh, shit! Mekakucity Actors ended.

Did you know that before the final episode, I was having trouble how to explain how Ayano was inexplicably alive? I was supposed to be like, "Oh, hell! This is fanfiction! I can make anything happen!" But at the end of Summertime Record, I kinda squealed when I saw Ayano alive and well and BEAUTIFIED as compared to the ATOH episode.

I was also like, "Yay! ShinAya is a canon~"

Dear anonymous,

Shintaro and Ayano will be featured in this chapter. The other Mekakushi Dan members? They'll show eventually...

Dear AILETA,

You've also made me a very happy girl... And I love you, too!

Disclaimer: I don't own KagePro or any of its characters. I only own this fanfiction and my OC children. I don't even own the names of some of the children in this fic.

Takane woke up with the sun in her eyes which in all actuality did not amuse her at all. When she was in high school, she would have probably covered her head with a pillow and would fall back to sleep. But ever since starting a family, she had a reason to get out of bed despite the drowsiness she felt.

Takane sat up and yawned. She stretched and rubbed at her eyes. The softness of their bed was so inviting that she was almost tempted to lay back down but she fought against it. She looked over to her left and saw Haruka still sleeping with most of the covers huddled over him.

She finally left the bed and decided to splash water on her face in the barhroom. She brushed her hair and came out of the room and went downstairs to prepare breakfast.

She washed her hands and tied on the pink frilly apron Haruka had chosen for her.

"It looks cute," he had told her as he hugged her from behind and rubbed his cheek against hers. "Takane would simply look adorable in the kitchen!"

"B-back off! Not in public, Haruka!" she scolded him as people in the department store sent them varying looks.

He spun her around and planted his lips on her forehead. "I want you to choose this one, okay?" he asked her, barely minding her protests against his public displays of affection. His innocent eyes looked at her lovingly.

Takane surely believed she couldn't say no to that. He always was one of her weaknesses. "Fine," she complied despite the fact that she wasn't all into pink and girly things.

She didn't know whether to be happy or exasperated by that fact because when Haruka had said he wanted to have children...

God knows that she still had trouble resisting his warm smiles and his sweet and tender kisses.

Takane grilled some fish and prepared some miso soup. She also made tamagoyaki which she knew Ene enjoyed eating. She packed the kids' lunches for school and let the rice steam before she went over to the couch and searched for the remote. She flipped over the channels and found nothing interesting to watch. In the end, she just decided to leave it on the morning news.

She heard a door open then close from upstairs. Takane watched her daughter descend from the steps sleepily, still rubbing at her eyes.

"Okaa-san..." Ene walked towards her, dragging along her triceratops stuffed toy. "Okaa-san, food..." She climbed her mother's lap and fell back to sleep against her mother's chest. "Hungry..." she mumbled.

Takane patted Ene's dark hair and set the toy that had been digging into her stomach aside. Soon, she heard another door open then close and watched Konoha walk downstairs. "Okaa-san..." he started.

"Food's almost ready," she answered before he even asked her anything.

"Ahh, that's good," he said as he sat next to her and leaned on her side, closing his eyes and let out a deep breath through his nostrils.

She heard the timer of their rice cooker go off. She was about to stand to set the table when she realised that Konoha and Ene were hugging her waist. She tried to peel their arms away but to no avail.

She decided to announce something that would surely wake them up.

"Food's ready!" she declared.

Konoha and Ene straightened and wiped the sleepiness off their faces. "Huh? Food...?" Takane's idea had worked since they almost instantly got up and sat in the dining table.

They ate their breakfast like rabid animals. Their appetites had most obviously taken after their father. Takane considered her family to be lucky that their money hadn't been all spent away on groceries.

Speaking of their father, he hadn't come down yet. Takane knew Haruka loved sleeping but she also knew that he loved eating more. He would never miss a meal. He'd even take the liberty of taking extra ones in between.

Takane retreated to their room to wake him up. She still saw him lying under the covers except he wasn't asleep anymore.

"Haruka." She placed her hands on her hips as if to scold him. But as she approached him on the bed, she noticed that he had been shivering.

"Haruka," she said worriedly this time, rushing to his side and sat on the edge of their soft and fluffy bed. She placed her hand over his forehead. It was warm, she felt. She wiped the beads of sweat starting to run down his face. She couldn't help but feel nervous. "Y-you're sick..."

"Takane..." Haruka took out his hand from beneath the layers of blankets to hold Takane's. Even his hands felt extremely warm, Takane thought as she gripped it tighter than she should. He noticed the anxiety written all over her face. "I-I'm only a little sick, Takane, so you don't have to make such a worried expression." He sneezed. "But..." He sneezed again. Again and again, he did as he tried to continue his sentence. "But, I still think you're going to have to take care of me... I-I'm sorry for having to trouble you," he apologized as he wiped off the snot running down his nose.

Takane didn't feel troubled having to take care of Haruka but what bothered her most was that he was sick. She didn't like seeing him unwell. She didn't like seeing him suffer. She knew it sounded selfish of her but she didn't want to lose him.

...Never again...

"Idiot." She made a sour expression. He wiped tears she hadn't noticed from the corners of her eyes. "W-why would I be troubled? I-I'm not troubled," she most obviously lied.

"Eheheh..." Haruka laughed as he stroked her damp cheek with his thumb. "I hope so..." He tried to stifle a cough. "Y'know, I'd kiss you right now if I didn't care that you'd get sick, too."

Takane laughed. At least he was well enough to manage making a joke. "I appreciate your concern..." She smiled warmly as she pushed back the hair that fell over his eyes. "I'll try to get something for you to eat."

She stood from the bed and headed for the door for the second time this day. She looked back at Haruka who pulled up the covers higher to his chin.

"I love you..." he said, almost muffled by the sheets, before Takane fully shut the door.

Honestly, he was too cheesy, Takane thought but it was something she adored about him. It's not like his cheesiness didn't work on her anyway.

"I love you, too," she called back before she headed downstairs.

Ene was in the middle of getting a second serving when she saw her mother return from upstairs with her hands in her small pyjama pockets.

"Okaa-san," she greeted cheerfully, now fully awake. "Isn't Otou-san going to join us?" she asked as she barely noticed Konoha steal the last piece of tamogayaki she was about to dig her fork into.

"Mmm..." Konoha savored the rolled layers of egg in his mouth. He swallowed and ignored Ene's screaming and yelling at him. "Yes, where is Otou-san?"

"Onii-chan! You are so unfair!"

Takane rubbed the back of her neck as she sat down with them. "Well, you see, your Otou-san is... sick."

Sick.

The word echoed through the children's minds. They've seen their father have enough attacks to feel nervous everytime they heard he wasn't feeling well.

"I-is Otou-san alright?" Ene dropped her fork and looked at her mother questioningly.

"Okaa-san, is Otou-san dying again?" Konoha gripped the fabric of his shorts tightly. His knuckles turned white.

Takane choked on the piece of grilled fish she was eating. She knew she would assume the same thing but, honestly, they where killing Haruka in their minds too early. "D-die...? K-Kono... ha... N-n-..."

But before she could even tell them not to overreact, they rushed upstairs to meet with their father. Takane ran after them.

"Otou-san!" they yelled with worried faces.

"K-Konoha! Ene! You still have to get ready for school!"

"Otou-san!" Ene opened the door to their parents room. Haruka opened his eyes and struggled to stand up. Konoha ran inside after her.

"E-Ene-chan...? K-Konoha?"

"Otou-san!" Ene jumped on her father's chest with tearful eyes. She hugged him desperately. Her hair whipped across his face.

"È-Ene, c-can't breathe..."

"Ene! You're going to lead your Otou-san into a premature death!" Takane lifted Ene off of Haruka and set her beside him.

"I-I'm sorry... It's just... Otou-san..." Ene sniffled.

"Don't cry, Ene-chan," Haruka comforted her, unaware of the cause of her tears. "Konoha, don't cry either! Please..." He smiled nervously.

"How can we, Otou-san...?" Konoha wiped away his own tears. "Wh-when you're dying..."

Haruka went into a coughing fit. Whether or not it was because he was ill, Takane did not know. It was probably because of his kids' assumption.

He cleared his throat. "Wh-where on earth would you get that idea?" Although, he realised that he wasn't the healthiest person in the household. Maybe he did know where their anxiety was coming from. "Otou-san isn't going to die, okay?"

"A-are you sure?" His children looked up at him.

"Yeah," he reassured them with a smile. "I promise! Cross my heart and hope to d-" Behind Konoha and Ene, he saw Takane furiously shaking her head, asking him not to continue with the statement.

"L-live... Live!" Haruka corrected himself before he could cause his children to wail even louder. "Now, go get ready for school or else you'll be late."

"Okay, Otou-san." They embraced him and went out of the room to dress for school.

Downstairs, already in their uniforms, they took their lunch boxes off the counter. They kissed Takane goodbye and ran out the door.

"Bye, bye, Okaa-san,"

"Be careful," she called out to them.

Takane spent most of the day tending to Haruka. She brought him soup to their room, fed him, made him drink his medicine, adjusted his pillow so he was comfortable. She even turned the air conditioner down when he said it was getting too cold for him.

Haruka was sure that he didn't mind the attention he was receiving from his own wife but he didn't like the idea of her slaving over him all day. He looked at her sitting on a chair beside him while he laid in bed. She only watched him as he idly rested. Soon enough, he felt awkward by their situation.

He reached his hand out to place it over Takane's. "Takane, maybe you could take a break for now..." he told her. "Ah, ehh... Maybe you could watch TV downstairs or something..."

"What?" Takane stood from her chair, bewildered. "Don't you like me being here?" she asked, her face twisting into an expression Haruka could only describe as weird.

"No," he answered.

"No?" Her tone seemed deadly. Even if he were sick, he assumed that she could still hit him if he made her upset.

"No, I mean... No, I do like you being here and it's sweet and all, but..." he tried to explain. "But, you've been doting on me all day and I think that you deserve a break from taking care of me..."

Takane sat beside him on the bed and felt his forehead again. "No, I won't take a break. You're still warm... I won't leave you."

"I-I'm fine, Takane. Really..." Haruka told her.

"No."

"Honestly..." Despite his own caution before, Haruka sat up and kissed Takane on the lips. "You're too cute when you're stubborn," he said after he pulled back. "I said I'm fine. I promise I'll call you if I need anything."

"Uh... ah..." Takane was flustered even after being married for so many years. "Y-yeah, I-I'll go downstairs... I-I was going to prepare some lunch anyways..." She exited the room with her face rivaling the bright red color of a tomato.

She considered something that a sick person could easily eat. She decided that it would be soup for Haruka again. She wondered if she would eat anything as well.

Maybe she'd just make herself a sandwich later.

After she had cooked, she brought the soup to Haruka and fed him once more. After that, she didn't dare stay long because she didn't want to feel embarassed again.

As promised to herself, she took two pieces of bread and spread jam in between them. She carried her plate along with a glass of orange juice over to the couch and flipped on the television switch.

Halfway to finishing her sandwich, the doorbell rang. She turned off the television and set her plate on the low coffee table.

"Who could that be?" She stood up as the doorbell rang again. "Yeah, yeah, I'm getting there..."

She opened the door to receive a big hug from a way too cheery brunette.

"Takane!" She jumped as she seized her with her arms. "I missed you so much!"

"Ayano!" Takane hugged back then held her at arms length. "You're, uh... getting big."

"Eh, I am?" Ayano put a hand to her inflating stomach. "Eheheh... I guess I am."

"What are you doing here?" Takane asked as she let her in. "You could have at least called me before you came."

"What? Didn't I? Ayano asked as the door was shut behind her. Takane shook her head. "I might have forgot but I was just so lonely with Shintaro out at work so I came here to see you!"

"Ah, okay..." Takane led her old friend to the couch. "Sit," she told her. "Can I get you anything?"

"No, thank you," Ayano answered. "I'm fine."

Despite the fact that Ayano refused her offer, Takane still accommodated her with her own sandwich and glass of orange juice.

"Uh, thank you." Ayano took a sip from the cold glass. "So, how are you doing, Takane? How are the kids?"

"They can be a handful at times. They are such crybabies, to be honest." Takane sat beside her. "But they're worth it."

"That's good to hear..." Ayano took a bite of her own sandwich. "Man, this tastes good!" she said as if she were announcing it to the world then ate the rest. "Can I have some more?"

"Yeah, sure..." Takane said slowly, looking at her friend with bewilderment. She went to the kitchen to prepare another sandwich. "So how are you," she started as she retreated to the living area. "...with all this..." She gestured to Ayano's stomach.

Ayano swallowed the piece of sandwich she had already bitten off. She smiled warmly as she held her belly. "Akane's really excited about having a little brother or sister."

"Didn't you bother to know the gender?" Takane asked.

"Shintaro and I wanted to keep it a surprise," she answered as she took another bite.

"ACHOOOOOO!" they heard from upstairs.

"Who was that?" Ayano kept her voice low, trying not to be rude.

"Haruka," Takane told her. "Are you alright up there?" she called upstairs.

"Is he sick?" Ayano asked.

"Yeah, I-I'm ah, ah... ACHOOOOO!" They heard him fall off the bed. "Is that Ayano-chan you're speaking with?"

"Yeah," Takane prompted to stand up. "I'm going to go up there," she warned.

"No," Haruka protested. "I said I'm fine. Just continue whatever you're doing."

"You sure?" She raised an eyebrow even if she knew there was no way for Haruka to see it.

"Yep~" he ansnwered. "Ah, ah... ACHOOOO!"

"Okay," Takane said, doubtful, and sat back down.

"Heheh. Takane's cute when she's worried," Ayano teased her as she poked her side.

"I-I am not!"

Ayano's visit mostly consisted of asking how each of them and their families were. They were also reminiscent of their high school days. They played and teased with each other. Occasionally, Ayano would ask for another sandwich or two.

It sure was hard having to handle a pregnant woman. Takane hoped Shintaro hadn't lost his patience. Although, she considered that it would be amusing to watch him in the verge of his insanity.

Then she wondered if she was as high maintenance as Ayano was. She wondered if Haruka had any difficulty handling her. If he did, he was one hell of a person to hide it so well.

There was a point in time that Ayano had to leave. Her phone jingled in a very catchy tune and silenced it by answering.

"Hello?" Ayano said into her cell.

"Ayano, where are you?" Takane heard a nervous Shintaro from the other line. "You're not in the house even after I told you not to just wander off on your own."

"Ah, Shintaro," Ayano addressed him. "Relax, Shintaro. I'm fine~ I'm at Takane's place. There's no need to be so anxious."

"But, but you should stay at home. Something wrong might come up if you're not,' Shintaro argued.

"Okay, okay..." Ayano said, putting her hands up. "I'll go home."

"No," he told het abruptly. "I'll go there to pick you up."

"Oh, sure. That would be so sweet of you!" She made a smooching sound into the transmitter. "I love you! I'll be waiting here."

"Uh... uh, yeah," Shintaro said. "I-I love you, too."

After twenty minutes, Shintaro came ringing at the doorbell. Ayano had enjoyed her stay at Takane's and was pouting that their time was up.

"Ayano," Shintaro said. "It's time to go home."

Ayano hugged Takane goodbye. "I wish I could come more often to vist, Takane." After, she turned around and took Shintaro's hand. "Let's go home?" She smiled warmly at him.

Shintaro guided Ayano to the car. "Be careful!" he told her as she almost tripped by the sidewalk. He assisted her to sit on the passenger's side.

"Goodbye, Takane!" She waved just before Shintaro shut the car door.

Takane waved back as they drove away. She retreated into the house and waited for the children to arrive from school.

Konoha and Ene came and greeted her. "We're home, Okaa-san!" Dinner was set and they ate together as usual.

"Is Otou-san feeling any better now?" Konoha asked her.

"Of course he's feeling better! Okaa-san took care of him!" Ene proclaimed.

"Th-that's right! Don't underestimate my nurturing skills, Konoha."

"B-but, Okaa-san, I was only asking if he was feeling any better..."

After dinner, Takane piled the dishes in the sink and washed them. She reminded her children to brush their teeth and take a bath before they sleep.

"Early, okay?" Takane eyed Konoha. "Don't think I don't know what you do at night!"

"I don't know what you're talking about, Okaa-san." Konoha's eyes shifted from left to right.

Takane went upstairs to tend to Haruka. She made him drink his medicine, made sure he was comfortable and took tons of coaxing and kissing just so he won't force himself to get up.

It was already a quarter to twelve and Takane was back to just watching Haruka rest.

"Takane," Haruka patted the other side of the bed. "How about you rest with me this time? It's getting late."

She only sat on her chair beside him, not moving from her spot.

"Boy, it sure is getting cold..." He exaggerated a shiver. "I think I need somebody warm to hug."

She only stared.

"Takane," he told her. "Just get in the bed."

"..."

"Please...?"

"..."

"I promise it would make me feel better!"

"..."

"Gosh, I feel like I'm dying from the cold!"

"Okay, fine! Just stop being so overly-dramatic!" Takane jumped off her seat and slipped herself under the covers beside Haruka.

"Yay!" he cheered with a raspy voice. He hugged her by the waist and kissed her on the cheek. "Goodnight, Takane!"

"... Yeah, goodnight..."

Takane woke up with a ray of sun in her eyes, again, which did not amuse her at all. She looked over to her left and saw abandoned layers of crumpled sheets.

Haruka emerged from the bathroom, ready to start the day. Although, there was nothing he could really do with his mess of hair.

"Good morning, Takane! I feel a lot better now!" He approached her to give her a quick peck on the cheek. "Thanks to you."

Takane rubbed the sleepiness off her eyes. "Ah, that's good... ah, ah... ACHOOOOOO!" She fell back on the bed. "Nyargh! I feel horrible..."

Haruka laughed as if he was amused. "I guess it's my turn to take care of you now, right?"

A/N: An d I conclude this chapter at that...

I named Ayano and Shintaro's daughter Akane... Meheheh... My lazy writing is triggered yet again! Oh! I will just confirm. Shinichi's mum is Kido, if you haven't already guessed.

Please review! I need reviews! Reviews just make my day!

Please...?

-S.Y.D.